The Pilot Project Program is one of the most popular and valued features of the HSPH NIEHS Center for Environmental Health (the Harvard-NIEHS Center). It is arguably the 'heart'of the Harvard-NIEHS Center. It encourages innovation and creativity, attracts new individuals to our Center, and it is an important component of our strategy to recruit new faculty. Finally, it provides important support for new investigators to develop preliminary data to develop independent research projects and compete for independent funding for environmental health research. This program has encouraged new and creative research approaches and has helped provide preliminary data and demonstrated feasibility. In turn, this has led to successful individual project grants from the NIEHS, NCI, NHLBI, EPA, the Health Effects Institute, and other public and private agencies which support environmental research. The Pilot Project program is a highly leveraged investment which facilitates the expansion of our Center research into critical areas of study. We continue to believe that pilot project funds are an extremely shrewd, high yield investment which leads our Center research into important new areas of study.